Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1887-01-20
GREEK GHOST STORIES.
An Interesting Contribution TO tho subIcc
OF Demonology.

| GHEEN OFiOol olOhlEOs
An Interesting Contribution TO tho Subject
OF Demonology.
Mrs. Cross told us naught but stories
about ghosts and goblns; but these
stories, when told by woman Of so
1iialht an aspect, and who thoroughly
believed in them, wefe different from
any such stories | had ever heard, and
moreover they were highly interesting
as proving the tcnacity Of custom and
myth among these primitive folk. She
told us much about certain demons
which the people believe haunt the
world from Christmas to Epiphany;
these they believe to have the form of
huge men with goats or asses feet,
the descendants, that is TO say, Of the
hideous goat-footed satyrs of antiquity
During their visits 10 earth they sub
sist, like the Amazons of old. solely
on snakes and lizards; they dance at
night, and enter houses by the Chin
neg, so that Mrs. Cross, like a good
housewife, was always careful to keep
smbcrs burning on the hearth during
these dangerous days, or else the Kali
kargari, as they call them, would come
IN and spoil all her food by their dirty
tricks. At cock-crow they disappear
Tor the day. and dwell in mountain
caves, but not till Epiphany comes is
The world free from them, and then they
dee underground altogether, taking be-
lore they go hack at the tree which
supports the world, and which one day
they will cut through. A popularidca,
akin TO putting salt on birds tail, is
that IL you can hit a Kalkargaros with
a flaming torch he will become n man.
When once opened on the subject of
demonology Mrs Cross lips were not
easily closed. We heard in one even
ing enough about modern nercids,
dragons and lamim TO last for whole
nights of nursery tales at home If prop
erly extended; but ono struck me as
particularly illustrative of Greek demon
dread as it exists now.
"Thoro is a wood in the mountains
began NJ. ). Cross, "far above the mon
astery, and near where tho hermit
father Parthcnios has his cell, where
demons abound in countless numbers.
and none dare approach it at night
One day bold wood-cuttcr from Kar-
dya determined to go with his ass
and pass the night there, having cut
down all the wood he wanted. When
evening came on he made on the
ground a circle, in this he drew with
his axe lot Of crosses. and within the
crosses a row of mystic letters, and
again another row of crosses inside
these; in the midst Of this charmed
circle the wood-cutter lay down to
sleep, and at midnight the demons
came and tried to get at him, but in
vain. At cock-crow they all fled. and
he set of home with his wood, all of
tremblc from the awful sights he had
seem"
Genuine belief in the supernatural is
so rare nowadays that il was real
treat TO hear our landlady's earnest
discourse on the subject, and no more
advantageous surroundings could be
wished for than those which we had.
The room was dingy and dim with
smoke from the embcrs and from our
tobacco. Mrs. Cross sat on low stool
with one child between her knees and
others crouching round, with open,
terrified eyes. Her husband sat by in
silence. and crossed himself when his
wife related any thing which struck
him as particularly dreadful. The
room, moreover, was only lighted in
the feeblest manner by wick dipped
into a foot-shapcd receptacle for oil,
which wat hung to stick which could
be moved from one spot TO another at
will CorHhW Magazine.